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A-LIGN’s ALTA Best Practices: Engagement Options Guide

Written by Blaise Wabo on September 29, 2015

American Land Title Association (ALTA) Best Practices: Engagement Options

Most people in the industry are confused as to what to do as it comes to ALTA Best Practices assessments and are even more confused when they read so many articles in the press or hear different opinions from industry experts. As a visual learner, I love quick reference guides. I need to be able to see the big picture to make a decision. A-LIGN has created an engagement option guide to the ALTA Best Practices assessments that will help Title companies make the right call on demonstrating their compliance.

Before downloading the guide, it is important to understand why title companies are asked to demonstrate compliance with the ALTA Best Practices. Knowing the “why” to anything always makes the “how” easier to approach and comprehend.

Why are title companies asked to demonstrate compliance with the ALTA Best Practices?

In 2012 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a bulletin related to service providers’ oversight, in which they expect supervised banks and nonbanks (lenders) to oversee their business relationships with service providers in a manner that ensures compliance with Federal consumer financial law, which is designed to protect the interest of consumers and avoid consumer harm. Lenders are taking a close look at their vendors and taking stringent steps to ensure that their business arrangements with service providers do not present unwarranted risks to consumers. In the effort to help Title Insurance and Settlement Companies, the American Land Title Association (ALTA) established a best practices framework and assessment procedures that can be used to help highlight policies and procedures in place to protect lenders and consumers, while ensuring a secure and compliant real estate settlement transaction.

In the process of choosing a service provider, many vendors especially lenders are asking Title Insurance and Settlement Companies to provide them with evidence that they have adopted the ALTA best practices framework and have implemented controls that will help mitigate the risk to consumers during the settlement of transactions. If you or your agency cannot assure lenders that these controls, policies and procedures are in place, you could be losing business and potentially harboring unwanted risk.

Now that you know the "why," it's time to implement the "how." The link below will show you our Best Practices guide. If you have additional questions, please fill out our contact form, call us at 888-702-5446, or email info@a-lign.com